Nightmares
Introductory This is the story I wrote for NaNoWriMo, a national competition in America for those in schools to write a story. Nightmares is about a man who has been tortured by nightmares recently. Warning, it is quite graphic. I do hope you enjoy. Secure. Contain. Protect. 00:06, August 7, 2012 (UTC) Nightmare #1 It was a sunny afternoon in Fort Mont, Rhode Island. Neil Stuberhoff, a young and middle-aged man was coming home from his occupation as an Architect at The King's Men Construction Company. He was a nice fellow, well-mannered and prosperous. Neil had a small home to himself and his car was in the garage for repairs after the little fender-bender he had a few days ago. Neil was happy living by himself. Neil didn't really have any problems, until that night. During the night, Neil had a dream. More like a nightmare of sorts. Complete darkness surrounded him, nothing was visible and he did not know what may lie within it. Although, he could see only himself fully clothed in his suit. The atmosphere began to cool, slowly descending in temperature. As it did, Neil began to feel the effects and started shivering. He was frightened by this, not knowing what will happen or why this is happening. Of course it is a dream, but why this? Neil thought to himself these questions and tried to stay warm in the meanwhile by holding himself. The cooling stopped. After that, Neil heard a growl, one that resembles a dog but distorted. He took a look around but still saw nothing. He could hear it coming closer too. Neil did not know how to take action so he just stood there, hoping it would go away, but it did not. Abruptly, what would look like a dead dog attacked Neil. As it jumped from the darkness landing on him. In his head, he heard a screeching noise, one that could make ears bleed and give headaches. The dog was tearing away at his suit, trying to bite him as Neil tried to defend himself. Then, the dog chomped a chunk out of his chest. Neil yelled at the top of his lungs in excruciating pain. The demon took another chunk from his left arm. Neil punched the dog in the head, trying his best to kill it, but it was futile. The dog seemed to not be phased no matter how many times Neil batted at it. The corpse kept eating away at Neil’s flesh. Blood spilled everywhere as Neil began to lose consciousness. His intestines were next to be ripped out. Surprisingly, Neil was still awake. A normal human would pass out or die by then. He was being tormented, very horribly. The dog stopped tearing and backed off into the darkness. Neil lied there speechless, horrified so much that he couldn’t scream. He just looked in terror at his body. It was ripped wide open. All of his entrails and organs were splattered along the floor beside him. He wanted to wake up from this night terror, even die if he had to, but it seems the rules of mortality had no effect. Neil attempted to move but could not. The atmosphere began to descend in temperature again. He could feel the cold in his body as it began to slowly freeze. The blood on him and around him froze, and his organs were frosty. The sharp pain grew more and more. Neil did not know such pain could exist besides in Hell. Over a pass of time his body was completely frozen, yet he was still awake. The pain from his body being torn asunder was still there. Also, the earsplitting noise was still scraping at his mind. He saw a gleam above, then another and another. They were coming towards him and he saw that they were three swords. They soon landed on three places in his body. His throat, left and right knees. When they struck, his body shattered. Then he woke up. Neil arisen from his bed very quickly, breathing heavily and checking to see if his body was still ravaged. To his relief, it was not. He made a sigh, calmed down and had breakfast. Had a nice bowl of oatmeal and a plate of French toast accompanied with a glass of apple cider. Afterwards, he felt better and got ready for work. With his car still in the repair shop he had to walk there, and back again today. Grabbing his suitcase, he fixed his tie and walked out the door, closing it on the way out. It was a pleasant sunny morning in Fortmont. The sky was blue, a few clouds overhead and the suburban landscape was easy on the eye. A slight breeze and the temperature was cool. Neil said hello to a few of his neighbors, and even had a small conversation with an old Italian man named Vincenti Romaldo. “Good morning Mr. Romaldo!”, Neil said with joy. “Ahh, Buon giorno Signore Stuberhoff! How did you sleep my friend?”, Mr. Romaldo asked. “Eh, not too good but I am still well.”, Neil answered honestly. “Tonight, you should go to bed earlier. Hopefully you will catch up on sleep.”. “I will Mr. Romaldo.”, Neil assured the old man. “Oh, before you head off, did you hear about the unfortunate accidents in Oklahoma?”, Mr. Romaldi asked. “Accidents?”. “Yes, a few suicides took place there. It happened only a few days ago. I pray for their souls everyday.”, Vincenti said worried. “That’s just not right. I will also pray for them, as well as the families that are burdened by this.”, Neil replied. “Very good, I do hope you do but I know you will. You’re a kind man Signore.”. “Thank you sir. I’ll be back in the evening. Have a nice day.”, Neil said walking off. “Thank you, and you also!”, Mr. Romaldi said while sweeping the leaves. Neil made it to work. The company is a fairly large corporation in Rhode Island. Neil has been in the job for about a year. He’s been liking it so far. He built a few successful homes, and an add-on to the nearby supermarket. Today he had to go to a conference after work. It would last until the evening and would have to skip dinner. He knew, so he packed a larger lunch. It was about the new building Neil had the honor to create, the new Town Hall. Neil has been thinking about it for a week, and has been drawing his ideas down rigorously. Two nights ago, he came up with his final structure and couldn’t wait for today. As he arrived to the company building and made his way through the halls, he bumped into his manager’s secretary. She was Katherine Hughes, a lovely young brunette woman about the age of Neil. “Oh, I apologize Ms. Hughes, I didn’t see you. Although, how could I not?”, Neil said nonchalantly. “Oh no, it’s fine. Nothing was dropped, so nothing was hurt.”, replied Katherine, as if the compliment went right through her. “Good luck at the meeting later Mr. Stuberhoff. I’m sure you’ll please the employers.”, Katherine said smiling. “Thank you Ms. Hughes. Have a pleasant day.”. Neil went through the day eager for the conference to come and sooner than he expected, it did. At the conference, he showed the employers his designs for the structure and they were glad with what they saw. They gave it the go, and Neil was exuberant. Construction would begin next week. It was finally time to go home, and he couldn’t wait to get a small nosh and head to bed. It was evening as he said he would be heading home by. The atmosphere didn’t seem creepy at all actually. Although, he did notice a little red in the corner of his eye. Neil strayed off the sidewalk to see what it was. The red was in a splatter shape, and when he looked in front of it a trail of blood lead to a dead body. Neil was shocked by this. He had to check who it was, and unbeknownst to him it was Mr. Romaldi. He couldn’t believe it, the nice old man who lived down the street was dead. Neil started to weep a little. There were multiple stabs in the body, and a bloody pair of scissors lying beside it. He called 9-1-1, and they came rather quickly. The paramedics confirmed he was dead, and loaded Mr. Romaldi’s corpse into a body bag, onto a stretcher and into the utility vehicle. A small crowd gathered around the scene and the police questioned Neil as to what might have happened. Neil had no answer, just that he found the body and the blood was already dried. Neil went home disgusted, woeful and terrified. If someone murdered him, who and why would they have done such a thing? If Mr. Romaldi committed suicide, why? The man had a nice life. He didn’t seem disturbed or anything. Maybe, it was a combination of both murder and suicide. Maybe there was an influence behind it, something that convinced Mr. Romaldi of such a thing. Neil also realized the two incidents. His dream and Romaldi’s death. It may be too soon to judge, but was this a coincidence or part of some sequence? Neil pondered this as he prepared and went to bed early as he promised Mr. Romaldi. Category:Story